A Vancouver teenager who was identified in court records as the first shooter in a March 2022 gun battle in Vancouver’s Uptown Village was sentenced to six years in prison.
Marcus Miller, 19, pleaded guilty July 13 in Clark County Superior Court to attempted first-degree assault. He was originally charged with two counts of first-degree assault and one count of drive-by shooting.
Miller’s co-defendant, Elcio A. De Padua Jr., 21, pleaded guilty in January to first-degree rendering criminal assistance. He was sentenced to 366 days in prison. De Padua reportedly drove the car to the shooting scene and away from it, court records state.
In statements the two victims wrote to the court about a month after the shooting, they said they struggle to sleep and continue to fear for their safety.
De Padua and Miller, then 17, argued with two brothers at about 3:40 p.m. March 5, 2022, at a convenience store in the 2200 block of Main Street. The brothers left when they believed Miller was pulling out a gun. De Padua circled the block looking for the brothers and found them about two minutes later near the intersection of Broadway and East 25th Street, according to court records.
Miller then stepped out of the car behind the brothers and began shooting at them “in front of a busy intersection with a large amount of pedestrian traffic around,” a probable cause affidavit states. The brothers pulled out their own guns and fired back at them, hitting De Padua’s car multiple times. No one was injured.
De Padua drove away and Miller ran away. De Padua drove around looking for Miller, and Miller flagged him down, according to court records.
Vancouver police responded minutes later to 25th Street between Main Street and Broadway for reports of the shooting. Police previously said bullets struck a Clark Public Utilities conduit and cut power to nearby residents, along with Walgreens and Hi-School Pharmacy.
Miller and De Padua were later spotted together on a gas station’s surveillance video, and De Padua can be seen with a firearm, the affidavit states.
De Padua allegedly admitted to police his involvement in the shooting, court records say, and he said he was afraid of Miller because of his close gang ties in Portland.
Investigators identified Miller as the shooter using surveillance video and Miller’s school photos, the affidavit states.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kristen Arnaud said during Thursday’s hearing that social media photos also show Miller with a gun.
